Bollywood Films To Look Forward To In 2011

What Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan and Anil Kapoor could not do this year – get the audiences to the theatres – Munni and Sheela did. What established and hit filmmakers like Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ashutosh Gowariker, Anil Sharma, Anees Bazmee, and Mani Ratnam failed to do, a rank newcomer like Abhinav Kashyap did with his maiden film, Dabangg– smashed old box-office records and created new ones. But that’s as far as year 2010 is concerned.

What does the new year have in store for the public? One can safely predict, a lot of surprises; probably, an equal number of shocks, if not more. Yet, notwithstanding the speculative nature of the industry, there are some films which give one the feeling that they will be eagerly awaited when they become due for release, no matter what. It could be because of the people facing the cameras in those films or the people behind the cameras or merely due to the topics they tackle. So, which are those movies which will have the audience’s adrenaline flowing in 2011?

Ra.One: Nobody knows for sure, the relevance of the title (does it stand for Random Access – Version 1.0?), but that doesn’t stop this Shah Rukh starrer from becoming one of the hottest films of the new year. Kareena Kapoor teams up with the superstar in the super-hero adventure fare.

7 Khoon Maaf: Vishal Bhardwaj’s films may often not make money at the box-office but his sheer genius as a filmmaker is enough to get one section of the audience (read, the classes) all excited. Yes, if it is Vishal, saat flops maaf. The February release is already the talk of the industry, the elite and the city-based folk. It is an adaptation of Ruskin Bond’s Susanna’s Seven Husbands, about a woman who kills her seven spouses.

No One Killed Jessica: If this one is able to create even a fourth of the hysteria that the Jessica Lal murder case in Delhi, on which it is based, created in India, it will be enough to set the cash registers ringing. If that happens, it could also give the fading career of Rani Mukerji a boost. She plays an investigative journalist modelled on real-life journalist Barkha Dutt. Vidya Balan plays Jessica’s sister, Sabrina Lal, in the UTV production.

Ready: Anees Bazmee’s record of hits and successes (No Entry, Welcome, Singh Is Kinng) may have been spoilt by No Problembut that wouldn’t spell any problem for his Ready. Call it the Salman effect or whatever but the public is more than ready for Ready, never mind if he is paired with Asin over again, after the nightmare called London Dreams.

Thank You: Yet another Anees Bazmee film, this one stars Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol, Sonam Kapoor, Sunil Shetty, Celina Jaitley, and Irrfan Khan with Vidya Balan in a special appearance. It is making brisk progress so that it can be readied for release before the new year ends.

Aarakshan: Ajay Devgan may not be a part of Aarakshan but Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone still make this film, based on the reservation issue in India, an exciting proposal. Prakash Jha directs the issue-based project.

Dirty Picture: Don’t screw your nose, for, this is just a tentative title. Milan Luthria and Ekta Kapoor join forces once again after their recent hit, Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, for a film inspired by the life of South’s sexy siren, Silk Smitha. Vidya Balan’s character is inspired by the late sex bomb who committed suicide. Insiders reveal that the lead man could be one of the two heroes of OUATIM viz. Ajay Devgan and Emraan Hashmi.

Don 2: A sequel is always exciting – provided, of course, it is made after the first part proves itself at the ticket windows and not shot simultaneously with the first part (like Rakht Charitra 2 was). And, therefore, Shah Rukh Khan’s Don 2is bound to generate more heat before release than even Dondid.